[ale] Fedora and RHN?

[Chris Ricker]

On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, Geoffrey wrote:

> > At least under US laws, any GPL'ed mp3 software is
> > non-redistributable due to the patent encumbrances, and when you
> > redistribute it (as SuSE does) you're violating the GPL. Up to now,
> > they've gotten away with it, either because they don't care (no one's
> > likely to complain) or because German laws regarding patent licensing
> > on software are different than US laws. Now that Novell is the
> > company, that may have to change.
> 
> I think it has, as on both SuSE 8.2/9.0 pro, xine does not support 
> viewing dvds because of the issues with css.

Both still ship lots of GPL'ed mp3 software which SuSE can't legally 
redistribute.

xine css isn't a patent issue. It's a "MPAA has lots of money and will sue
us, even though they have no legal grounds, because that's how the USA
works" issue. decss is actually GPL'ed, and doesn't infringe patents, so
xine's license is fine.

later,
chris